The UCF Knights women's soccer program represents the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

National Collegiate Athletics Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I. The Knights compete in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(The American) through the 2022 season, after which they will join the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. UCF plays home games on its main campus in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

at the

UCF Soccer and Track Stadium The UCF Soccer and Track Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States. The 2,000-seat stadium is home to the UCF Knights track and field, cross country and s ...

. The Knights are led by head coach and Olympic gold medalist Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak.

History

The Knights soccer program began in 1981 under Jim Rudy, who also started the men's soccer program at UCF in 1975. The Knights went 11–3–0 in their inaugural year, defeating

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

in their first match 20–0. Rudy led the Knights to the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

in their first year. UCF faced

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

in the final AIAW Championship, falling 1–0. The Knights returned to the Finals in 1982, falling again to North Carolina 2–0 in the first NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. The first two NCAA Tournaments were held at UCF. In 1993, the team joined their first conference, the

Trans America Athletic Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

(which became the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001), where they remained until joining

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

in 2005. In 2013, UCF joined the

. In 30 seasons, the Knights have had a losing record only twice, and have earned a bid to 16 NCAA Tournaments, including 5 straight through 2011. UCF has earned more trips to the NCAA Tournament than any other Florida school. In 2011, the Knights became the first unseeded tournament team to defeat the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

, who have won 20 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships. UCF defeated UNC 5–4 on penalty kicks in the Sweet Sixteen before falling 3–0 to Wake Forest in the Elite Eight.

Stadium

The Knights play their home games at the

, part of

Knights Plaza Knights Plaza at University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as Knights Plaza, is an athletic village and shopping center on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States. The plaza consists of h ...

, on the north end of UCF's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The soccer field is made of natural grass and measures x . In 2011, the stadium was heavily renovated, boasting a 2,000-seat capacity with a new 1,475-seat stand, press box, clubhouse, restrooms and new entrance on the west side of the facility. The original 500-seat stand was retained as a visitors' stand. File:UCFTrackSoccerComplex.jpg File:UCF Soccer and Track Stadium.jpg File:UCFTrackandSoccerComplex.jpg

Coaches

Seasons

Alumni

UCF has produced a number of notable soccer stars. Most notably,

Michelle Akers Michelle Anne Akers (formerly Akers-Stahl; born February 1, 1966) is an American former soccer player who starred in the 1991 and 1999 Women's World Cup and 1996 Olympics victories by the United States. At the 1991 World Cup, she won the Golden ...

, Amy Allmann and

Kim Wyant Kimberly Wyant (born February 11, 1964) is an American soccer coach and retired player. She is the head coach of the New York University men's soccer team, currently, one of only two women to lead a men's NCAA National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...

. Akers and Wyant were founding players on the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

from 1985 to 2000. Akers helped them win the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, and the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Her career was so distinguished that

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

named her among only two female players (along with teammate

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra (; born March 17, 1972) is an American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the U ...

) on the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

list of the greatest living soccer players in 2004. In addition, Aline Reis, an All-American in her freshman year in 2008, was selected to the

Brazil women's national football team The Brazil women's national football team (Portuguese: ''Seleção Brasileira Feminina de futebol'') represents Brazil in international women's football and is run by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). It has participated in eight ed ...

for the first time in 2009, playing in a friendly against a local Brazilian team in July.

References

External links

* {{Big 12 Conference women's soccer navbox Soccer clubs in Florida 1981 establishments in Florida